Seeing the soldier's devilish smile, the bodies of the people who knelt trembled even more violently. Some people had already learned their lesson and didn't speak anymore, they just nodded desperately to express their agreement.
Seeing this, the people around him followed suit and began nodding their heads desperately, imitating him.
"Mmm~"
Seeing this, the soldier nodded in satisfaction, suddenly began to clap his hands, and said, "Alright, I will tell you the punishment you will receive."
Then he bent down, stretched out two fingers, and continued to say to the people in front of him, "Don't worry, your punishment won't be too severe. After all, this matter is no big deal. There are only two punishments for you."
"The first punishment is this: the road ahead is blocked by vehicles, and even though you didn't go before, now you're not going to be left behind. So just get down on your knees here. When will the path be cleared? I don't know, but you can get up as soon as I'm free."
"The second punishment is in the future. During the next trip, if something happens to the convoy and civilians need to be recruited to help, you will be the top priority. Don't think about escaping, we'll find you..."
After saying this, he straightened up, the smile on his face didn't change, and said in a soft voice, "How about this? This punishment is quite reasonable."
The people who knelt looked at each other in disbelief, their expressions became angry, but they didn't dare to speak. Everyone felt that this punishment was too authoritarian and for a while not a single person spoke.
Even Brian and the onlookers on the periphery, hearing the punishments, secretly thought that the first one wasn't a big deal, just a little awkwardness that would soon pass. But the second punishment was much more serious: if the convoy was attacked by infected and civilians were needed to fight, these people would be the first to be recruited.
"Why, do you have any opinions?" Seeing that no one answered for a long time, the soldier also held back his smile, his face gradually darkened, he looked at these people coldly, and said in a cold tone.
As soon as those words were spoken, the atmosphere, which was already tense, became even more somber. Those who were furious before quickly changed their expressions, nodding their heads desperately, showing that they accepted punishment without hesitation. After all, a smart man avoids immediate consequences, so it was better to agree first before trying to negotiate later.
"Tsk tsk tsk..."
After seeing the soldier's methods, Brian thought that, in this apocalyptic world, he really had to be alert at all times, otherwise he would be like these dear friends and experience the dangers of society.
Just as he was thinking about these things, he suddenly felt his clothes being pulled from behind. He turned around and saw that Sarah was putting her legs together, her face flushed, looking at him excitedly.
"What's wrong with you? Why do you have such a red face?" Seeing her like this, Brian asked with some confusion.
Sarah looked around nervously and saw that no one was paying attention to them. She came close to Brian's ear and whispered, "I want to go to the bathroom..."
"..." Brian looked at Sarah speechlessly, secretly thinking why she tells him he wants to go to the bathroom, pointed to the forest not far away, and said, "You can go to the bathroom there."
Seeing that Brian didn't seem to understand what he meant, Sarah hesitated, then leaned close to her ear and said, "I mean, go with me."
"Good..."
Why do we have to go together when we go to the bathroom? Brian scratched his head in confusion, hesitated for a moment, then took the other person's little hand and walked into the woods.
The two trotted into the woods. The soldiers who were inside had already been withdrawn. Now, the military was guarding both the outer perimeter and the depths of the forest to ensure security in that area.
"It is not convenient for me to enter. I'll wait for you outside." Standing at the edge of the woods, Brian let go of Sarah's hand and signaled that she could enter. He would wait outside.
"Um."
Sarah nodded, went deeper into the woods, and crouched behind a tuft of grass in the distance.
Brian found a spot where he could see the grass, leaned against a large tree nearby, and waited quietly.
While Brian waited, two soldiers walked past him talking. When they saw him, they greeted him in a friendly manner and then, when they found a secluded place, they took something out of their pockets and prepared to take a nap.
At first he didn't pay too much attention to them, but since he wasn't far from the two soldiers, what they said reached his ears and still caught his attention.
One of the aquiline-nosed soldiers lit the cigarette in his mouth and complained, "Hey, this weather is really miserable, it's really freezing to me..."
After hearing this, the bearded soldier pursed his lips disdainfully and replied, "Can't you stand this temperature? If you had been in Stanley, you probably would have fallen on the spot."
"Okay, let's stop talking about it," said the aquiline-nosed soldier, aware that the other was from Idaho, and did not want to delve into the subject. Then, with more interest, he asked, "Hey, weren't you in Houston? Last time you mentioned to me that something amazing happened there, didn't you?"
Unexpectedly, the bearded soldier simply shook his head helplessly, and said with a sigh in his tone, "Now that the place has been occupied, what can be surprising..."
But before he finished speaking, he seemed to have remembered something of truth. He turned his head to his teammate and said:
"Well... I almost forgot if you don't tell me. There's something really surprising."
"When did my memory fail? Stop inking and tell me quickly. Let me hear it." The aquiline-nosed soldier sneered and tapped the other person's shoulder, motioning for him to speak quickly.
The bearded man rolled his eyes, remembered what he heard from his companions at that time, and said slowly, "I haven't seen it with my own eyes. That's all I was told by the people who were involved in it."
"It seems that just two days after the Cordyceps fungus burst, two crazy people arrived in Houston. They said they were looking for their children and made a big fuss in the isolation camp. However, no matter how hard they tried to persuade them, they did not listen. In the end, they had no choice but to temporarily imprison these two people."
"But who would have known that those two madmen actually escaped from the detention camp and snuck into the area where the list of survivors was recorded. When they were discovered, they resisted arrest and fled. Desperate, the soldiers had no choice but to shoot them both..."
The aquiline-nosed soldier who was listening with great interest saw that the other party suddenly stopped talking. He looked at him with some dissatisfaction and said, "Go on, why did you stop?"
"Eh~"
But who would have thought that the bearded soldier didn't respond immediately. He simply remembered the terrified expression on the soldier's face, took a deep breath, and continued, "They shot. Sure, these two crazy guys fought back, but can you imagine? The bullets seemed unable to reach them. No matter how they fired, they always found the right angle to take down the soldiers. In the end, the entire team of about fifty people was defeated. There were less than ten left!"
With that said, the bearded soldier trembled and took a deep breath from the cigarette in his hand, then threw it on the ground and put out the cigarette with his foot.
"This... this..." The aquiline-nosed soldier seemed to be stunned by what his companion said. His mouth opened slightly and he stood there stunned, with an incredible expression on his face.
Two civilians who came out of nowhere, beat up an entire formation of fifty well-trained soldiers, and reduced them to less than ten? Think you're in a movie?
"Were they caught?" The hook-nosed soldier came to his senses and was a little curious to know what happened to these two people in the end.
The bearded soldier shook his head, smiled bitterly, and said, "They didn't catch them. Since then, these two people have disappeared. No one knows where they went. Later, as the number of infected people increased, no one is paying attention to this issue anymore."
"Then you know what they're called..." Although he didn't know if this was true or not, the hooked-nosed soldier thought for a moment to see if he could figure out the names of these two madmen, so that he would be prepared in the future if they met.
After remembering it in his mind, the bearded soldier said with some uncertainty: "It seems that they are two brothers... but I don't really remember their names..."
"Tch... you don't even know their names. I doubt what you're saying a bit," the aquiline-nosed soldier replied, rolling his eyes. Then, he threw the cigar on the ground, got up, and added, "Okay, let's go quickly, let's not get caught by the captain later."
"Well, let's go."
Brian, who had been leaning against the tree, looked at the backs of the two people gradually moving away and thought about what the bearded soldier had just said.
In order to find their children, the two brothers made a big fuss in the isolation camp and were imprisoned. However, they managed to escape and found the place where the list of survivors was kept. However, they were still discovered by the soldiers and began a thrilling firefight. In the end, they disappeared.
Well, this story seems a bit cliché...
For some reason, Brian suddenly thought of Joel and Tommy. They seemed to be siblings, and they must have done this to find Sarah.
.... At that moment, he suddenly remembered that he and Sarah had always thought that the two people might have died after being caught by the infected, but in reality, they never saw their bodies from start to finish. What if they are actually still alive?